Subject areaChannels and tools
Social media are the online applications where users themselves create and exchange content: text, photos, videos, comments.
The most cited definition comes from Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein, who in 2010 described them as applications built on the foundations of Web 2.0 (the web where readers can also publish). The term is broader than social network, because it also covers blogs, forums and video platforms.
For a company the consequence is practical: the brand's message circulates next to what customers say about it, so the work includes listening as well as publishing. Platforms such as Instagram and TikTok now also act as search engines for shopping. In the European Union the largest platforms answer to the Digital Services Act (the EU regulation on digital services).
Source: Andreas M. Kaplan e Michael Haenlein, Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media, Business Horizons, 2010.
An example
A machine tool company publishes videos of its plants in operation on LinkedIn and YouTube. Comments from technicians reveal which questions the catalogue leaves unanswered, and the marketing team builds its next product sheets from them.
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Enrico Giubertoni. Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0: you may quote, translate and adapt this entry with the author’s name and a link, stating any changes. For commercial use, write to info@enricogiubertoni.com
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